Acknowledgments

The Manning team made the work on this book a joy, and they never complained when the joy went on a bit longer than anticipated. From Mike Stephens, who made it happen, and Jeff Bleiel, from whom we learned something new about collaboration, to Jennifer Stout, Andy Carroll, and Elizabeth Martin, who exhibited a level of calm patience that we can only envy, all have upheld standards of professionalism and quality that inspire authors to do their best.

Thanks to the people who helped to review this book, whether by reading the early release chapters and posting corrections in the Author Online forum, or by reviewing the manuscript at various stages during its development. You are part of it and should be proud. Without you, the book would not be the same. Special thanks to the following reviewers: Achim Friedland, Arash Bizhan Zadeh, Bruno Georges, Christian Bach, Daniel Beck, Declan Cox, Edward Ribeiro, Erik Onnen, Francis Marchi, Gregor Zurowski, Jian Jin, Jürgen Hoffmann, Maksym Prokhorenko, Nicola Grigoletti, Renato Felix, and Yestin Johnson. Also to our excellent technical proofreaders, David Dossot and Neil Rutherford.

We are very grateful to and would like to acknowledge Bruno de Carvalho, Sara Robinson, Greg Soltis, Erik Onnen, Andrew Cox, and Jeff Smick for contributing the case studies you will find in chapters 14 and 15.

Last but not least, thanks to all the people who support Netty and OpenSource in general; without you, the community, this project wouldn’t have been possible. Through the community we have met new friends, talked at conferences all over the world, and grown both professionally and personally.

Norman Maurer

I’d like to thank my former coworker and friend Jürgen Hoffmann (aka Buddy). Jürgen helped me find my way into the OpenSource world and showed me what cool stuff can be built when you are brave enough to jump in. Without him there is a chance I would have never started programming and thus never found my true professional passion.

Another big thank you goes out to my friend Trustin Lee, founder of Netty, who helped and encouraged me to contribute to the Netty Project in the first place and who penned the foreword to our book. I’m honored to know you and to be able to call you a friend! I’m confident that by continuing to work together, Netty will stay awesome and be around for a long time!

Also I want to thank my coauthor Marvin Wolfthal. Despite Marvin joining the project late in its lifecycle, he helped to improve the overall structure and content by a considerable amount. Without him, the book would not have been possible in its current form. Which brings me to the Manning team itself, who were always helpful and gave the right guidance to make the idea of writing a book reality.

Thanks to my parents, Peter and Christa, for always supporting my visions and me.

Most importantly, thanks to my wife Jasmina and my kids Mia Soleil and Ben, for all the support they showed during the process of writing this book. Without you this book would not have been possible.

Marvin Wolfthal

First of all, I want to thank Norman Maurer, my coauthor, for both his fine work and his kindness. Though I came late to the project, I was made to feel as if I had been part of it from day one.

To my colleagues past and present at Dell Services and Harvard Pilgrim Health Care, I offer sincere thanks for their help and encouragement. They have created that rare environment where new ideas are not only expressed, but realized. To Deborah Norton, Larry Rapisarda, Dave Querusio, Vijay Bhatt, Craig Bogovich, and Sharath Krishna, special thanks for their support, and even more, their trust—I doubt many software developers have been granted the creative opportunities I have enjoyed in the past four years, including adding Netty to our toolkit.

But most of all, thanks to my beloved wife, Katherine, who never lets me forget the things that really matter.